Stages to Success

Episode 016 - The Inv-Asian of the American Symphony Orchestra

November 22, 2018

In 1977, the Chicago Symphony hired its first Asian musician, John Bruce Yeh, in the clarinet section. Twenty-one years later, Robert Chen took over the concertmaster position, arguably the most notable position in a symphony orchestra. Since that time, the CSO, along with orchestras across the U.S., has seen an explosion of numbers of Asian audition winners, both American and foreign born. Hear the story of these two high-profile American symphony musicians, how both of their parents made their way to Los Angeles, and how the entire demographicof the modern American symphony orchestra is changing.